Sermon Tone Analysis

*Free Indeed*

*John 8:31-36*

 

Big Idea: True freedom comes when disciples know, believe and obey the Truth.

I.

Introduction

A.            What is our perception of freedom?

1.

We live in America, “land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

2.             Statue of Liberty greets newcomers on our eastern shore

3.             No limitations.

No restrictions.

No restraints.

4.             “I can do what I want, when I want, as often as I want with whomever I want.”

B.            Slavery

II.

Transition

A.            Discussion on series “Easter – So What?”

B.            Reason for this sermon

1.

Because of the cross, I can have freedom.

2.

Not freedom as the world defines it with all its limitations and exceptions.

But freedom as God defines it.

Real and true freedom.

3.             What is this freedom, and how do we get it?

C.            Context of John 8

1.             Jesus, in chapters 7 & 8 is addressing a large crowd of Jews who have assembled in Jerusalem for the annual Feast of Tabernacles.

a.              Feast of Tabernacles is one of three feasts that able-bodied Jews were commanded to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate.

b.

The Feast was a celebration of God’s provision and protection of the Jewish nation after He had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea.

2.             Tabernacles was different than the other two main Feasts in Judaism; Passover and Pentecost, primarily because Jewish pilgrims from all over the world were more likely to attend, to bring out the underlying theme of Tabernacles that the Jewish people were pilgrims and wanderers for 40 years before they had a place to call home.

3.             Distinctives of Feast

a.              Dwelling in booths

b.              Pouring out of water (John 7:37)

c.              Lighting the 4 candelabras (John 8:12)

4.             Other claims.

a.

One claim was that there were some in the crowd that were intent on killing Him.

b.

Another was that He was sent by God, His Father, and that He truly speaks the words of God.

c.              Also, He also claimed that unless people believed that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God, they would die in their sins.

5.             Needless to say, this stirred up quite a controversy among the people.

a.

There were those that were so opposed to Him that they did want to kill him.

b.

There were those that were more mildly opposed to Him that they discounted Him as an illegitimate half-Jew who was possessed by a demon.

c.

There were those that liked what He said, but didn’t fully grasp the concept of the Messiah or Christ.

d.

Then there were others that not only liked what He said, but believed what He said and put their faith in Him.

e.

This is the group that is mentioned in John 8:30, and whom Jesus addresses in our text starting in verse 31.

III.

Exposition

A.            Jesus Addresses Believers (John 8:31-32)

1.

Despite all the chaos of the setting and of the crowds, Jesus delivers a powerful sentence of encouragement to those Jewish men and women from around the globe who were hearing Jesus’ words for the first time and were trusting in Him for the forgiveness of their sins.

2.             He encouraged these new believers with the fact that as His disciples, they can know and experience a freedom that no one else can experience.

3.

There are three key terms in this short sentence that are important for us to unpack.

a.

The first is “abide”.

i.               Abiding is a profound theological term.

ii.

Basically it means to stay, or remain in a place.

iii.

In our context it means that despite the bad feelings and even persecution from friends and family members, you will not waver and will not fail to follow Jesus and obey His commands.

b.

The second is “truth”.

i.               Pilate famously asked Jesus later in this gospel right before His scourging and crucifixion “What is truth?”

(John 18:38).

ii.

Truth, for the apostle John, means a divine revelation of reality.

iii.

John is most concerned that people know that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing in Him, they can have forgiveness of sins (Jn.

20:30-31).

iv.

Therefore, knowing the truth is knowing that God has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and that this revelation represents a reality that is otherwise hidden to us.

c.

The third key term is “free”

i.

In general, freedom in the NT represents an awareness that we are not in control of our existence, therefore in order to have any semblance of control, we must look to an outside source.

ii.

In the context of John 8, this existence is the realm of sin.

4.             Therefore, what Jesus is saying in this compact sentence is that those who are professing faith in Him will not only experience forgiveness of their sins, but if they follow Jesus’ example and continue to obey His commands, regardless what everyone else is doing, they will experience a liberation from the enslavement to sin because they see more clearly God, who has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and know more clearly His will for their lives.

5.

These are indeed great words of encouragement, knowing that not only were their sins forgiven, but also that it would be possible that sin would no longer have control over them.

B.            Jesus Addresses Non-believers (John 8:33-36)

1.             Change in audience

a.

The “they” in verse 33 does not refer back to the believers that Jesus was just talking to.

b.

Since it was a mixed crowd of people, another group responds to what Jesus just said.

(example with people in the congregation)

c.

This group does not believe in Jesus’ words and are quite antagonistic to His message in general.

d.

In fact, by the end of the chapter, they are part of the people that are trying to kill Jesus by stoning.

2.             These people pick up on the implication that they are not free and protest on two accounts.

a.              First, they were offspring of Abraham (Jn.

8:33a)

i.               Abraham in the OT was a great king and warrior who was enslaved to no one.

In fact, he was called God’s friend (Is.

41:8).

ii.

By claiming to be his offspring, they were claiming royal lineage of the highest degree.

b.

Second, they had never been enslaved to anyone (Jn.